I'm a KD since the mid-80's. I wouldn't say they are lying. Cambria wants to maintain more control over their tops by doing their own fabricating. That is not necessarily a bad thing...witha all the fly by night fabbers out there. However, I have a great fabricator and would rather HE do it for me. I does take a bit longer sometimes and there is issues with my customers previewing slabs (yes, some people still want to pre-view quartz). Fabricators probably do make a little less on Cambria since they are really only doing the templates and installations....but not the sales people...at least in my area. Cambria has been shuffled around to several different fabricators in my area over the years....so yes, I think there is some truth to fabricators having issues with Cambria. There is also probably some truth to the warranty issues. Cambria has 'pooling' issues with several colors. Many people do not like this effect.

zodiaq is carried thru home depot..silestone may be offered at lumber yards or big box stores .....so maybe you can find special offers you can take advantage of....that's the best way to get the price down as far as I know. The Santa product is less familiar. Home Depot and Lowes in your area will look up and tell you when there will be a sale event. It's not a really cheap product.....for what you will spend whether a sale event or not, focus on getting the selection and details you want. You want economy?..granite will have very good pricing generally....and occasional deeper discounts of various selections if you get to know who sells it nearby.

We have polished Organic White countertops. We also get subtle metal marks that won't come out. These counters are just a few months old. No one else would notice it, but I certainly do. I would recommend getting a sample of the quartz you are considering and testing it yourself. Maybe we're just unlucky? Although, the number of websites that say "quartz doesn't stain" seem to be equalled by the number of websites that say "here's how to get stains out of your quartz". We haven't tried Magic Eraser and it is somewhat discouraged since it is abrasive, but we may try that next.

I am a fabricator. There is very little difference in the actual material. The fabricator will have a far greater impact on your eventual satisfaction level than the material selection. The majority of the engineered stone (i.e."quartz") products are manufactured on the same machinery resulting in nearly identical material properties.